By Suzanne Vranica 

Anheuser-Busch InBev is reworking its Bud Light advertising and will use the Super Bowl to show off its new creative direction.

The world's largest brewer said it will air a 60-second spot for Bud Light, the nation's top-selling beer, as it tries to revitalize the brand, which has suffered shrinking market share and sales. Light beer brands more broadly have struggled as consumers opt for craft brews and Mexican lagers.

The new campaign, which is being crafted by Wieden+Kennedy, will carry a new tagline: "Famous Among Friends."

Although Anheuser-Busch has not revealed what the new Bud Light ads will look like, viewers should "not expect celebrities" and should "not expect epic films," said Marcel Marcondes, vice president of U.S. marketing at Anheuser-Busch. Instead, Mr. Marcondes said the new ads will highlight the classic moments that "we all go through with our friends."

The new direction is a dramatic change from the brand's last major ad push, "The Bud Light Party," which was introduced during last year's Super Bowl and featured comedians Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen. The brewer pulled the plug on that ad effort after it failed to improve sales for Bud Light.

Beer Marketer's Insights estimates that U.S. shipments of Bud Light fell between 2.5% to 3.5% last year.

Anheuser-Busch will once again be one of the largest advertisers in Super Bowl, which will air on Feb. 5 on Fox. The company, which is making its 28th consecutive appearance in the big game, has purchased three minutes of ad time this year. It will also air commercials for its Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and Busch brands during the Super Bowl.

This will be the first time Busch, one of Anheuser-Busch's value brands, is airing a spot in the big game.

The Budweiser spot, which is being created by Anomaly, will highlight the pursuit of the American dream by focusing on Adolphus Busch, the co-founder of Anheuser-Busch. The famous Clydesdale horses, long a fixture of Bud advertising for the title game, will make a cameo.

Fox is still selling ad time for the broadcast and has been asking advertisers to fork over roughly $5 million for 30 seconds worth of time, more than double the amount advertisers paid 10 years ago, when spots cost about $2.39 million, according to ad-tracker Kantar Media. Nearly 112 million people in the U.S. watched the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers during last year's Super Bowl.

Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2017 07:34 ET (12:34 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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